Current events in the words of the students of Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur

Cryogenic Engine

The following article is based on my own interpretation of the said events and/ or publicly available information. Any material borrowed from published and unpublished sources has been appropriately referenced. I will bear the sole responsibility for anything that is found to have been copied or misappropriated or misrepresented in the following post.

Last week, on India’s Republic Day, Indian space agency ISRO gave the country its best gift by successfully testing its most powerful cryogenic engine, code-named C25. It was tested for a duration of 50 seconds at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) in Mahendragiri. This is the same technology which was used in Saturn V, which carried man to the moon in 1967. By testing an engine this powerful in the first attempt, ISRO has once again demonstrated its ability to work in new areas.

For those who are unfamiliar with this technology, Cryogenics is the study of substances at a temperature as low as 150 degree Celsius and lower. Since Cryogenic engines use liquid Oxygen and liquid Hydrogen as fuels at this temperature, they can be tricky to operate. Thus far, the US, Japan, China, France and Russia are the only countries to have tested Cryogenic engines.

In my opinion, this is a great news for India. Since Russia denied this technology to India under US pressure, it is a huge accomplishment for them to develop such a complex technology. With a powerful C25 backing the GSLV Mark III rocket, India is looking forward to launching its second moon mission – the Chandrayaan 2.